"Real Photo"

Continuing on my last post's theme, I thought I would show some more examples of PoW postcards. Unlike the ones in my last post, these ones are "Real Photo" postcards. In most PoW camps, a military or civilian photographer visited the camp and took photographs of the PoWs for the purpose of sending them home. This was generally done to show the families of the PoWs that the men were alive and well in Canada - this being a bit of Canadian wartime propaganda!

The first image is a group of PoWs at Camp 30 in Bowmanville, Ontario. The majority of the PoWs in Bowmanville were officers and included members of all branches of the German military. This particular image shows members of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Heer (Army). This postcard was sent by either the man on the far left or right in the front row. These two individuals were part of the German Customs branch so I'm not sure how they ended up in Canada! Interestingly enough, another copy of this postcard is in the hands of another collector (link).

The next photo is a group of sailors at Camp 21 in Espanola, Ontario. The sender, Heinz Alsleben, was one of forty survivors of U-93, a German U-Boat sunk in January 1942.